It is commonly accepted medical opinion that body parts stressed during exercise, such as the elbow or knee, respond well to the immediate application of cold. Oftentimes, persons suffering from muscle or ligament stress will wait until they return home to apply thermal treatment. For the affected member, waiting for many minutes or perhaps hours causes the application of thermal treatment to lose much of its therapeutic value.
In the past, persons suffering from chronic stress of muscles or ligaments who have attempted to bring some form of thermal treatment with them to the site of the exercise activity have resorted to ice or a commercially available thermal compress. In the case of ice, it is heavy, awkward and messy to use. It does not easily conform to the shape of the body part and quickly melts. In the case of the thermal compress, when it is removed from an external source of heat or cold, it quickly returns to ambient temperatures.
Many individuals suffer from chronic discomfort in one or more extremities such as that caused by muscle injury, tendinitis, or permanent ligament damage. The typical amateur athlete, who desires the benefits of exercise, but does not necessarily wish to participate in organized, competitive athletics, and thus, does not have professional medical or training help readily available, is often discouraged from exercising because of the discomfort caused by minor, yet seemingly chronic, injuries. Surprisingly, no effective, portable devices for convenient, immediate thermal treatment of exercise-related injuries are commercially available in spite of the long-felt need for just such a device.